Arrow Short Stories 01: Shades of Green
by lollipopdiaries
Summary: This will house my collection of one-shots, two-shots and short stories. Stories that I feel the urge to write but will deliberately keep it short. This one specifically has an established Olicity in it. But I warn you Laurel lovers, this will not be for you. It features our kickass girls Sara and Nyssa. It's also heartbreaking for Oliver...you will know why if you read on.
1. Chapter 1

**_As usual, I do not own The Arrow, nor am I in anyway related to CW or DC. I am just part of this fandom. An Olicity shipper (so you know ALL my stories will be Olicitycentric) and an amateur writer expressing my love for the fandom._**

**_Oh, for those following me in tumblr, I posted this story there before..that's why this will probably be familiar. For those who want to check-out all my stories, especially those not posted here in fanfiction, you can follow either of the two for the links:_**

**_Twitter: lollipopsays_**

**_Tumblr: everythinglollipop_**

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><p><em>SHADES OF GREEN – It features the varying degrees of friendship between Felicity, Sara, Nyssa and yes Laurel and how that is tested in a highly strung environment. Oliver, Roy and Diggle are also predominantly featured in the story, as if you would expect anything else if you've read at least one of my stories. Oh, and this is an established Olicity story.<em>

_Let me warn you however that I have NOT been a happy camper during the last three episodes of The Arrow (3.2 to 3.4), and despite the writers attempt to humanize Laurel, I'm just not nor will I ever be a believer in the character (to separate from the actress playing her), I find all her scenes as trying hard and throw away. _

_Now why is she in this story, because again if you are familiar with all my stories, I have never deliberately written her in, it's because she is integral to the development of the plot and how the story progresses. Before the Laurel fans go up in arms and boycott this story, I would like to clarify that I am not bashing the actress, in fact I do not HATE the character, I just very obviously do not LOVE her, this is largely due to how the character is written – shallow, self-centered and almost always desperate for attention, a far second to her kickass sister._

_Having detailed my exact sentiments, I now live it up to you to decide if you want to read this or not. If you love Olicity, then I implore you to read my other two fics: Exposed and Spotlight, both Chapter 14's posted. If you already have, and are currently following both….much, much love._

_In the meantime, here goes this story. Crossing my fingers…. _

**Arrow Short Stories 01: SHADES OF GREEN**

**Chapter 1**

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><p>Oliver had raced through the streets of Starling at breakneck speed as soon as Diggle had called him carelessly jumping off his Ducati in front of an official looking police do not cross this line yellow tape meant to keep curious onlookers on the outside to prevent them from interfering with police business.<p>

"I'm sorry sir, you can't do that," a neophyte policeman called out to Oliver which Oliver naturally ignored as he rushed toward the two men talking animatedly beside a police van.

"Diggle!" Oliver screamed as he spotted Diggle. Diggle waved Oliver over to him as Captain Lance placed a tired hand to the bridge of his nose.

"Why am I not surprised. Nice of you to join us Queen," Captain Lance greeted Oliver sarcastically.

Oliver ignored Lance and turned to Diggle, "what happened exactly, are all four of them really inside?"

Lance stepped in and answered Oliver, "both my daughters are inside, as is Ms. Smoak and my daughters' friend Nyssa along with approximately seven to twelve others not counting the hostiles, still undetermined at this time. We got the notice from a 911 call that was placed and cut about twenty minutes ago."

"I was suppose to pick-up Felicity in about," pausing to look at his watch, "fifteen minutes, Roy is off with Thea today. I was twenty minutes early, traffic was light today. Lance and the police where already here cordoning off the area. That's when I called you," Digg continued.

Oliver heaved a breath and rubbed his face with his hand, "Digg…."

"I know Oliver," Diggle answered Oliver squeezing his shoulder.

"What am I missing?" Lance frowned and looked between Oliver and Diggle.

Oliver looked at Diggle who gave him a miniscule nod before he faced Lance fully, "Felicity's pregnant. We just found out a couple of days ago."

Lance's temple creased further, "I didn't know she was seeing anyone? Do you think it's wise to give her baby daddy a call? Are they together?"

Oliver closed his eyes and exhaled, "I'm the father…and yes, Felicity and I are together. It's just not public knowledge."

Lance reacted instantaneously, "what the hell Queen, this is Felicity we are talking about."

Oliver leaned with his back against the Police van, "I know you don't have a very high opinion of me what with my history but, I love her and she loves me, it wasn't planned but it isn't unwanted, the pregnancy I mean."

"This day just keeps getting better," Lance shook his head. He looked up noticing that the sun was still out, it was barely mid-afternoon. He had been through a lot during the year. His near fatal attack had given him time to reflect and analyze a lot of things.

Sara and Nyssa that was one thing he took some time to reflect on. His Sara being alive, being the expert fighter she became, being a member of the League of Assassins, a scary thought he didn't want to dwell on. Just the name itself should put the fear of God in all its targets. Sara, his youngest daughter leaving just when he got her back to rejoin the League and last but not the least, Sara and Nyssa, what was up with that? Lance had known Sara had hooked up with Oliver when she first got back but apparently she was with Nyssa first then got back together with her girlfriend in the end. Sara with Nyssa had visited him twice in the span of a year in between assignments or whatever they were called when the League gave them missions. This was supposed to be the third visit. Well, third time was a charm, or so they said.

Laurel Lance, his older daughter, the same one Oliver Queen was originally supposed to marry and live happily ever after with before everything had happened. According to Laurel, Oliver and she had finally made peace and had both moved on, she as ADA for Starling City, fighting crime from the comfort of her office and he apparently moving on with Felicity Smoak, what was up with that?

Felicity Smoak, every time the name of the young lady was mentioned, it brought an unconscious smile to his lips. The girl had brought out protective feelings in him, she was like a third daughter to him and wasn't it just a coincidence that the girl who brought out fatherly emotions in him ended up with Oliver Queen too.

And finally Oliver Queen, ladies man extraordinaire, billionaire and heir, who would have thought that boy would do a complete 180 and turn into the man even he had come to admire and respect. Because despite what Oliver Queen thought, his alter ego wasn't as veiled. Sure one had to have inside information and an inquisitive mind plus there were just too many coincidences, too many to be ignored. If the man chose to believe that he was clueless about realizing who the Arrow's real identity was, then so be it. He had repeatedly called on the Arrow during the year for help in crimes that had shades of grey in them when it came to keeping within the boundary of the law. He had always using the pre-agreed method of contact. Never had he hinted that he knew that Oliver Queen and the Arrow where one and the same person.

And finally, here they were all now, the man he had immediately wanted to reach out too when he first realized it was his daughters and Felicity inside with a few others was standing just a few feet away from him with no inkling that he knew what he knew about his identity. So he decided to test the boundaries of how Oliver Queen would react.

He eyed Oliver for a few seconds then trained his sight on Diggle for a few more before saying, "look, we will do everything we can to make sure everyone comes out of this unscathed, hell I have motivation to make sure that everyone makes it out in one piece, I have both my daughters inside," pointing in the direction of the coffee shop, "but, I'm not going to turn down help from the outside if it's volunteered."

Oliver locked his jaw, "are you referring to the Arrow and his team? I know Felicity is part of his team and I think he would be more than willing to help but from what I know he works best under the cover of darkness. I…." Oliver exhaled, "I'm sorry Captain Lance, I'm just a bit," Oliver started to pace up and down before he continued, "I can't lose….you and me both, we have so much to lose if this goes south. Laurel and Sara are also important to me. I've met Nyssa too," quickly looking at Diggle making sure he was listening so they would have consistent cover stories, "Sara introduced her to me a few months back. And did I mention Felicity is pregnant," rubbing a hand to his face again.

Lance saw how distraught Oliver was as he took three steps forward to pat Oliver in the back, "why don't you have the police and our friend handle this. You being here, it's already attracting more than enough attention, it might work against us if the hostile inside put two and two together and this quickly escalates into a ransom demand. As of yet, they haven't gotten in touch with us. Why don't you take your bodyman with you and either park yourselves inside the police van or step back over the police barrier. I promise to get in touch with you when we have updates."

Oliver exhaled again and weighed Lance's suggestion. If Lance was going to call the Arrow, it would be in their best interest to not be within seeing distance of Lance. But then, he couldn't not be here at this moment, the stakes were pretty high for him not to be close by. Eyeing Diggle he made his decision, "I will stay inside the van, your right about attracting attention," he told Lance. "Diggle, I was suppose to meet a friend in a few minutes, can you take care of that for me," the silent message between them for Diggle to get in touch with Roy and bring him up to speed on what was happening since they will definitely need him for later.

Diggle picked on the silent message right away knowing that Oliver wouldn't leave his spot any time soon considering where Felicity was.

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><p>"I won't say it again, everyone face down on the floor, bags and all phones and gadgets in front of you. Wouldn't want to put a bullet in any of you this early," the leader of the group repeated.<p>

Felicity turned her head to the right, cheek pressed to the floor, as she made eye contact with Sara who was beside her sister Laurel and Nyssa. The four of them together with at least ten other people were currently hostages of what seemed like a team of four heavily tattooed and heavily armed men inside a nondescript coffee shop in the Glades.

It had been almost a year after The Arrow team had defeated Slade and his army of mirakuru induced soldiers and despite the awkward beginning, Felicity and Laurel had made enough progress in their tentative friendship to consider themselves friends, not in the same league as the tight friendship within Team Arrow where Laurel was still an outsider, but enough so that they didn't need Oliver stepping in every time.

Felicity wasn't as obtuse as Laurel thought she was. In the beginning, after Laurel had discovered Oliver's secret and after the Slade fiasco, she knew Laurel had renewed interest in starting up a relationship with Oliver again. She had give Oliver several hints. And it had been awkward for all of them to say the least.

Felicity was also recovering from having her heart played with, with Oliver's 'I love you' and his hot and cold attitude. She had taken the high road and had given Oliver the space he needed, space for self-assessment as well as the opportunity to kick start his romance with Laurel once again if that was what he wanted. She had been more than obvious in rejecting the little touches Oliver made, the shoulder squeezes, the hand in the small of her back, the playing with the tailend of her ponytail. She had shied away from all these, letting Oliver know that despite her being physically there for the Team, things had changed between them.

Felicity looked once again at Sara. Sara and Nyssa had visited twice already in the span of a year, this being their third. Sara had tried to be there as much as she could for her father who had to undergo a serious operation right after she had first left to rejoin the League of Assassins with her girlfriend Nyssa but the visits had been a couple of days at a time given the schedule the league maintained.

After Slade had been defeated and imprisoned in Lian Yu, crime had hit an all time low in Starling City. Starling's citizens had taken it upon themselves to work across social and geographical boundaries which allowed the City to recover faster allowing for basic services and institutions to be rebuilt just a few months after the siege led by Slade that had almost resulted in the leveling of the City to the ground.

Queen Consolidated, a casualty of the siege was currently undergoing financial restructuring in large part due to Walter Steele stepping in with the backing of Starling Bank which had Walter at the helm.

After a series of Board Meetings and months of backdoor negotiations, Oliver Queen was back on top as CEO of QC with Felicity Smoak once again rejoining QC alongside Oliver but this time as head of IT, a position she now held officially for two months.

It had taken six months after Slade, one month after little Digglet had been born and two weeks after he had a final heart to heart with Laurel about where he stood when Oliver had finally cornered her inside the lair for a talk, as he put it.

And by talk, apparently Oliver meant, being at the receiving end of a mind blowing kiss that was anything but platonic. Only Oliver would forego the foreplay of words to clarify his intention with a deliberate action in the form of slamming his tongue deep into her throat. At the end of it, he had pulled her up the stairs and outside the lair, taken her car keys and brought her to his place to cook dinner for her.

He had said no words but at the same time he said a lot with his actions that night. It had taken him two months to finally say the words again, the same one he had uttered almost carelessly the first time in the foyer of the Queen mansion. His chosen venue to say those meaningful words again didn't help. He was in the middle of a mission and had been shot, again. She had alternated between shock and dread during that hour. By the time Oliver had been cleared by Diggle as out of immediate danger, Felicity's emotions were on overdrive, punching Oliver several times on his chest for scaring here until he had lean in to kiss her and say the words again, this time not breaking eye contact.

Things had finally changed that night. Felicity had finally said the words back. She knew that he knew how she felt, how she had always felt about him. And he had asked her several times to say the words back to him, but she had always held back, until tonight. Tonight was the first time since they were officially together that he had almost died. So tonight was a turning point for both of them. From then on, they had been very vocal about their emotions and very deliberate about their actions.

So yes, when Felicity had found out she was pregnant four days prior and after a day of worrying how to break the news to Oliver, she finally just blurted it out in her typical fashion when Oliver had questioned why she suddenly had an aversion to red wine. They had visited the doctor the next day and gotten the confirmation they needed. Oliver's reaction to the confirmation was all she needed to bring her to a place of sheer bliss and unparalleled contentment.

The lunch today was supposed to be the opportunity to share the news of her pregnancy with her friends who she knew would be happy for her. Despite the weirdness of the situation, Laurel and Sara being exes of her baby daddy and boyfriend, she appreciated that fact that this group of girls next to Diggle and probably Thea, who Oliver still had the share the happy news with, would welcome the development with open arms, or at least most of them would.

She had barely been able to share the news with them, just finishing up the embraces and hugs, when the gunmen had stormed the coffee shop.

As she made eye contact with Sara, she knew Sara and Nyssa would help her protect the child that was growing inside of her at all cost. Not only for her or Oliver's sake, but because this child symbolized a new tomorrow for all of them, from out of the darkness and destruction came new life, this child represented everything they had fought for, a better tomorrow for the future generation.

She had noticed that Laurel had froze then stayed quiet for a few minutes before she had mouthed her congratulations stiffly. Felicity had expected that, Laurel had still not recovered from the brush-off she got from Oliver. She was resigned no doubt to the reality of Oliver and Felicity together, but she had been slow in accepting it whole-heartedly. She hoped that when it came to it, she could rely on Laurel if need be.

The gunmen had been wearing ski masks when they first burst into the coffee shop effectively covering their faces. It became apparent that they were all professionals or at least that they had semblance of military training given the discipline they had displayed and the recognition of authority they placed on the one person who was their appointed leader.

Before they had demanded that the occupants of the shop all proceed to the center of the room and divest themselves of all their gadgets, packs and bags, Felicity had been able to press a pre-assigned number on her phone that connected her to 911. While she did not have the time to talk to an operator she hoped the call could connect and the operator would have been alert enough to recognize the reason for the distress call.

It was a split second decision for her to call 911 instead of Oliver Queen or Diggle who were both also on her speed dial list, but given the circumstances and knowing that Diggle would be picking her up in a few minutes as previously arranged, Oliver had all but insisted that if he could not do the chauffer services himself, Diggle or Roy, who now assumed the official function as her driver/bodyguard who was currently on a day-off of his duties to be with Thea, would chauffer her around.

Felicity had argued with Oliver until she was literary red but to no avail. Oliver had not budged from his decision in as so far as her protection was concerned. Now more than ever, with a little Queen on the way, he had put his foot down. Realizing that Oliver's reaction was due to the fact that he wouldn't totally get over his need to ensure the safety of those he loved, Felicity had finally relented. Her motherly instincts had also seen the logic of his position.

Sara had squeezed her hand, shaking Felicity out of her wondering thoughts and brought her back to the present, "ADA Laurel Lance, defender of the weak and upholder of the rule of law. Is the name Fred James familiar to you?"

Felicity could hear Laurel's breath hitch at the statement. She also felt Sara move to her right, presumably to be closer to her sister, as if to protect her from the harsh words of their captors.

"Ah, I see that it is," the leader of the group continued. "You see," increasing the volume of his voice so everyone else could hear, "the reason all of you are here today, your bodies pressed to the floor, is because of one reckless assistant district attorney, an ADA who consistently uses shortcuts rather than good old fashion hardwork to get her job done. The same one who had my little brother, Fred James imprisoned for twenty years for a crime he clearly did not commit. The same one who died in prison, two weeks ago, the kicker of it all was she knowingly knew she had the wrong man but pushed forward anyway."

"No, I didn't know until it was too late. The case was gaining ground. It became a high profile case. The evidence pointed to him. It was too late, too late to back down," Laurel defended.

"So instead you knowingly prosecuted the wrong man, and he wasn't the only one. Every single one of us, pointing to his comrades, they had someone who was wrongly imprisoned too. And guess who they all had in common, you!" the head of the group continued.

"No that's not true. Not all of my cases are the same. I work hard, I work hard," Laurel defended herself.

"Sure you do. In between binges of booze and drugs, you do. Don't think that we didn't check on that, clearly, you haven't been doing a stellar job."

Sara and Felicity both gasped at the information. They had talked about it once, during Sara's last visit, they had started to notice little things. Shaking hands, excessive fidgeting, shortened attention spans. But Laurel had camouflaged it all, defending that her work was taking a toll on her. It had not been the first time, she had always reverted back to her bad habits.

You won't get away with this. There are a lot of witnesses," Laurel answered, her voice shaking despite her fighting words.

The leader of the group laughed, "that's what you do best. Hide behind the law. If you think a battalion of ill equipped and poorly trained policemen would stop me, stop us, then Ms. Lance, I assure you, you are not only naïve in believing in your justice system. You also have misplaced trust in the ability of your police force. Oh, I know that your father is the Captain of the force, but even he can only do so much against me and my team. Don't be deceived by our numbers, this is not a spur of the moment operation."

"If she is the only reason that you are all here, then maybe you can let the rest of us go," the brave voice of one of the other hostages called out.

The leader gave a signal to one of the other captors to pull up the man in his early 20's from his prone position before he was pushed to his knees in front of their leader who bent forward before he answered, "one way or another ADA Laurel Lance dies today. Whether she had some company on the other side or not, depends not only on her cooperation but on you and everyone else here following every single thing we will be telling you to do. Now, did I say you could speak?"

"No…" the once brave voice faltered.

"That's what I'm talking about. Now, the next one who moves, talks or makes a noise…well let's just say, you've been warned. Now go back and lie face down again!" the leader told the man.

Without warning, the captor who had originally pulled up the man from his prone position butted the edge of his assault rifle on the side of the head of the man making the man lose consciousness instantaneously, his face bloody as he landed four feet from Felicity.

"Now," the leader of the group continued, "we are unfortunately under time constrain so we have to get this over and done with, "if you will Ms. Lance get up and join me right here," pointing to a spot in front of him.

Sara moved in front of her sister, Laurel for her part did not respond to the command of the leader.

"You really are quite stubborn Ms. Lance. I will ask you one last time. If you do not move, then you will force my hand. I will extract punishment for every time you disobey me on your fellow hostages. Who it will be…well, to everyone else, Ms. Lances' lack of cooperation will be the reason some if not all of you will either die today or be injured. Ms. Lance, how would it feel to have the blood of everyone in this room in your hands, all because you tried to be a girl scout," turning toward Laurel the leader started again, "now Ms. Lance, if you will?"

One of the other captors started to walk toward Laurel again. Felicity felt a hand squeeze again from Sara and then a very subtle nod before all hell broke loose. Sara and Nyssa were suddenly on their feet engaging the captor who had stepped toward Laurel earlier, gaining the upper hands initially by disarming him before gunfire erupted and shouts run out.

It took all of ten maybe fifteen seconds all together, but it felt longer. When the smoke cleared, Felicity and Laurel were surprised to find themselves huddled together sitting down on the floor, one of their captors definitely dead a foot away from them face up. But what both Felicity and Laurel saw almost at the same time was Sara also on the floor clutching her chest which was dripping copious amounts of blood, Nyssa about five feet away clutching on to her stomach and leg, also bloodied.

"Now look what you made us do!" the leader of the group shouted at Laurel.

The two other members of the group secured Nyssa by tying her to a cement post in the middle of the coffee shop with sturdy ropes that they had apparently brought with them unmindful of Nyssa injuries. The leader had stepped heavily into the bloodied chest of Sara further aggravating her injuries and making Sara let out an unguarded cry. The leader was wise enough to read the situation knowing that the two ladies had training and had to be dealt with military precision equal to how they would normally secure and treat their enemies.

As soon as the two were satisfied with how they had secured Nyssa, they went to the aid of their leader this time to secure Sara, again ignoring her injury.

The leader finally stepped toward their fallen comrade to confirm that he was indeed very dead turning once more toward Laurel.

"I warned you," pointing an aggressive finger at Laurel, "you really are self-centered and have no sense of compassion for the lives of others, prepared to risk everyone else's life. Their deaths," pointing to Sara and Nyssa, will be in your hands. From their injuries, that one," gesturing to Nyssa, "has a better chance of living though the day, "that one however," gesturing to Sara, "well let's just say, give or take an hour or two, that's the thing with chest injuries, particularly those very close to the heart, time is of the essence."


	2. Chapter 2

**_A/N: I will be very honest…I thought about abandoning this story plot for a few days primarily because I hit a road block in writing the second chapter. Laurel, unlike the other characters I can relate to easily I will admit is really hard to write without making her out as a total bitch. But in the end, I think I found a compromise on how to attack her character. _**

**_If you are reading this first before you jumped to the chapter below then applause for you…you will be in for a surprise following how chapter 1 ended. Don't kill me please…_**

**_As usual I do not own anything related to Arrow but if for some reason they force me to be part of the brainstorming team, I will gladly accept it with open arms._**

**_Oh, and I do appreciate comments/reviews, favorites, follows…I love interactions in twitter (I even created a twitter account exclusively for my ships), so please follow me – lollipopsays._**

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><p><strong><em>SHADES OF GREEN<em>**

**_Chapter 2_**

"Oh my God!" Laurel woke up in a sweat. Her dream was so vivid. She wasn't surprised to find that she had tears in her cheeks as she tried in vain to bring her breathing back to normal level. It took her a few moments before she wobbly got out of bed and into her bathroom washing her face to clear the remainder of her dream from her mind.

She took a minute to stare at her face in the mirror. Her cheeks had sunk, her eyes were bloodshot. Her hands were shaking as she glanced down at them. She defended her state to her replica staring back at her as a consequence of her hard work and dedication to her job. Finally, after months of struggle, she had been given a break as an assistant district attorney, despite privately feeling overwhelmed she had pushed forward and thought she had been doing wonderfully in the past four months.

Her Dad was back in active duty, promoted as a result of the Slade siege. He was now Captain of the police force. Sara had come back twice to visit during the past year with Nyssa in tow. Although that had been awkward for a time, they had made peace with the reality that her sister and Sara were together and on top of that, they were assassins of the top caliber kind.

Laurel had been misplaced for several months after the siege. Although she would never admit it, she was never good with upheavals in her life. She was enough of a drama queen to coat everything that had happened to her in the last seven years as everyone else's fault. That she was a victim of circumstances.

But she was also strong in her own way. She had made something of herself. She had counted on that strength to carry her despite the reality that several major events had made it almost impossible. So she used alternative coping methods. Drugs and booze, more booze than drugs. But she had started to clean up her act, get her life back in order.

She just slipped from time to time. She blinked again, her mind replaying part of her dream. Her sister and Nyssa and the armed men who were taunting her for doing a lackluster job, then her thoughts returned to Felicity being pregnant with Oliver child. It was just a dream. She reminded herself, just a dream as she open her medicine cabinet and took out a few pills to swallow. It was just a dream…a very bad dream. Almost running to her living room where she kept a supply of booze.

She heard her phone beep with a message and slowly stood up to go back to her bedroom still holding the bottle she had quickly grabbed. Unlocking her phone to read the message, Sara was visiting tomorrow. Her breath caught, it wasn't happening. Her dream wasn't going to be a reality as she took another long swig of booze. Another beep went off this time it came from an assistant in her office reminding her of a case she had a meeting for in an hour.

Laurel stood up again, tossing down the remainder of the bottle.

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><p>Felicity woke up and automatically stretched her arm to reach out for the man who slept beside her, missing his warmth. After a few taps she realized she was alone in bed and finally open an eye spotting her man brooding as he looked out her small window.<p>

She stood up, she knew he would have sensed that she was awake and up but he remained still just gazing out the window. She took the last few steps so she could wrap her hands around him waist giving his naked back butterfly kisses.

Oliver's only response was securing her arms tighter around his waist.

"What's wrong?" Felicity finally asked.

Oliver exhaled heavily before he turned around to face her. She searched his eyes for any clue finally realizing what was troubling him when she felt his palms remain flat on her tummy. She repositioned her hands on top of his.

"I thought you were okay with this," she asked him suddenly unsure.

Oliver closed his eyes before answering, "I am. There is no one else I would have wanted to have this with except you." He suddenly sunk down on his knees in front of her circling her waist with his arms, his lips on her tummy.

He started to talk to her tummy, "I am also scared. Scared of what may happen. It was hard enough when it was just you and me, even if we both agreed to keep our relationship private, I still had nightmares about losing you, but being together, here, every night, knowing that I have one less thing to worry about since you are with me every night, it helped a lot."

He kissed her tummy again before he looked up, "but this baby, it changes everything for us. You've made me very happy, never doubt that. After what I have been through, this….." kissing her tummy again, "this is a miracle, you are both my miracles. Both of you are my world now, I can't, I won't be…."

Felicity had kneeled down beside him, her hands on his cheek, "I'm scared too. For reasons very different from yours. I'm scared I wouldn't be a good mother. That I'd go shopping and forget him in the store or that I won't be able to tell our son is sick or I'll mess up some other way. I graduated top of my class at MIT, I know computers like the back of my hand, but I don't know anything about raising a child."

"Hey, hey…" Oliver leaned in to kiss her acknowledging that they both had their fears, both of which were valid.

"We are quite a pair aren't we," Felicity tried to smile weakly through tears.

Oliver repositioned them so she was now seated between his legs on the floor of Felicity's bedroom, his arms around her, "I love you, I know I don't say it much. But I do, the day you finally made the choice to give me a chance, a chance I may not have deserved after the way I treated you. I swore that I would do everything in my power to deserve you."

Felicity leaned back so her back was cradled in his chest, "you were always the superhero I was destined to end up with."

Oliver squeezed his Felicity even tighter. His thoughts bringing him back to that day she finally gave into him.

_"__No, no, no…Oliver…don't you dare! Don't you even think of dying on me! I swear to God!" Felicity started to punch his chest repeatedly until she heard a very slight whimper._

_"__Oliver…Oliver!" Felicity started to shout frantically again._

_"__Felicity, give me room to take care of Oliver's injury." Diggle was working like a madman. "Roy, I need blood, get me the box of supplies, now!" _

_Roy and ran around the lair unmindful that he was acting like Diggle's slave while Felicity just continued to alternate between talking and shouting at Oliver while holding his hand._

_"__Felicity, I need you to press you hand down here while I work on stitching him up here. Felicity! I need your a-game," Diggle mildly scolded her to jolt her out of her trance._

_"__That's okay Digg, let me help you. I think my brother would appreciate it more if Felicity just continued to hold his hand," Thea interjected, squeezing Felicity's shoulder before asking Diggle for further instructions._

_After everything that had happened, Thea had come back to them. It had taken four months for all the secrets to come out on both sides, Oliver and his secrets, and Thea and her secrets. They had both come clean with one other, Malcolm Merlyn and the Arrow. Everything was now out in the open. In the end, Thea had embraced her new calling as member of Team Arrow working side by side with her brother, Diggle, Roy and Felicity._

_Felicity had still been working with Ray Parker until a few months ago when his agenda had been revealed and after another upheaval in QC, Oliver Queen was now back as CEO. While Felicity had continued to work in QC, continuing on her position as division head, it had taken sometime before Oliver and she had recovered their footing. They had continued to skirt around their non-relationship. And this time, it wasn't Oliver who hesitated, it was Felicity._

_Oliver finally accepted that she was what he needed in his life, she was his life. The Laurel's of the world, they meant nothing to him. He promised not only himself, but his interfering sister who had come to love Felicity as much as he had, that he would take his time with Felicity, give her the space she needed._

_This latest mishap, he getting shot again, this was the final straw that finally broke Felicity's resistance._

_She didn't care that Diggle, Roy and Thea could hear her, "Oliver Jonas Queen, I love you! I have always loved you! I'm sorry I was being stubborn. I'm sorry I was scared. I promise you, the moment you wake up, I will tell you I love you back. I need you to be strong for us, I need you!"_

"He?" Oliver asked her.

"What?' Felicity answered him confused.

"Our baby, you called him a he. Are we having a boy?"

Felicity bit her lip, "Oliver, I'm only six weeks along. I don't think anyone can tell yet. It just seemed right. A little you running around. God, he's going to be an armful isn't he?"

Oliver laughed, "I wasn't that bad."

"I think others are better judges of that than you."

"Well, with you as his," emphasizing the his, "mother, I'm sure he will be the best and most behaved child in the world."

"I wasn't always like this you know. I once had a rebel side in me," Felicity answered him cheekily.

"And don't I know it. Your ex turned out to be even worse off than any of my exes."

"Are we really going to talk about exes now…."

"No we aren't, I have other things in mind right now," Oliver proceeded to lift her in his arms and gently lower her back in her bed.

* * *

><p>"You know, I still don't understand why you and Felicity don't move back into the Mansion. I mean it's empty now," Thea asked her brother.<p>

"Speedy, why don't you move back there," Oliver asked Thea.

Thea looked around her modern apartment that was overlooking the city, "I like it here. I've been happiest here. I have my own space, I have my boyfriend with me," at Oliver's scowling face, "which I realized wasn't to wisest thing to mention to you, and I have you here. Although really, in the last three months, you been here all of," pretending to count her fingers, "zero nights, which I totally understand. You wanting to be with Felicity day and night, but, we've always known the Queen mansion would eventually be where you would bring up your family, carry on the Queen line."

Oliver eyed his sister with a narrowed look as if she knew something, "what are you talking about."

Thea glanced at him exasperatedly, "you do plan to marry Felicity and raised a family with her right? You're not just fooling around with her," Thea started to become angry, "because I swear to God, you're letting the best thing that happened to you slip through your fingers!"

Oliver raised his hands in defeat, "calm down speedy, I know that Felicity is the best thing that ever happened to me as you so eloquently put it. And yes, she is the one for me. But, I don't know about moving back into the Mansion. I'd have to ask Felicity about that, we have to talk about things like that now."

Thea smiled at her brother proudly, "you really have grown up a lot brother," tapping his chest playfully.

Oliver rolled his eyes at his sister, 'how about some lunch? Felicity is busy, meeting up with Sara and Nyssa who are in town…and Laurel, for lunch today."

"So I'm the poor substitute for your preferred lunch partner," Thea huffed. "Isn't it weird that all your exes are friends, or I think they are friends. Although in truth, I catch Laurel sometimes giving Felicity this weird stare," cringing as she said it.

Oliver gave a scoff, "I asked her about it once. You know Felicity, she doesn't have a bad bone in her body. She's always been okay with Sara, Laurel…well…Felicity is trying to meet her halfway. They work together in some cases, Felicity tries to help Laurel out with information. As long as Felicity is comfortable with it, I'm fine with it."

"Aha," Thea gave him a look.

"Fine, I'll talk to her about it. But really, I came here because I wanted us to have lunch. I have some news for you."

* * *

><p>Laurel was stressing about the lunch, alternating between inventing a reason so that she wouldn't be able to join them and just talking herself into believing that what she dreamed last night was really just that, a dream.<p>

She was in her office, after talking to a client for a new case for two hours on top of her disturbed night, she really wanted nothing better than to crack open another bottle and booze up. But this was her office, it was sacred environment.

After a minute, she gave into the temptation, opening her bottom drawer for a fresh bottle of booze. She just needed a glass...maybe two.

* * *

><p>"Oh my God Ollie!" Thea pushed back her chair and embraced her brother warmly unmindful of the restaurant crowd.<p>

Oliver hugged his sister back. He knew she would be happy for him, she had been nothing but supportive of him during the last few months.

"I'm going to be an Aunt!" Thea once again squealed in delight.

Oliver hushed his sister. He didn't want something like that known in public yet. Felicity and he had been together for three months now, but they had kept their relationship private, Felicity's decision not his. Because once she was in his life, he wanted to shout it to the whole world. But Felicity, always the cautious one, wanted it to be quiet and private for a few months. He had a suspicion that she still had that miniscule insecurity in the back of her mind that one day he would backtrack. He tried to assure her every day of their life that he was in it forever.

"Ollie," Thea started as she sat down again, "this keeping it quiet and private is not going to cut it now. You have to make the announcement about you and Felicity being together, the baby shouldn't be the first thing everyone hears about. You owe it to Felicity."

"I know speedy, I've wanted to go public for months now, it's Felicity, she…."

"She really is too good for you. Always putting you first before herself."

Ollie rubbed his face, "I'm going to talk to her tonight, about going public. We don't have to have an announcement. We can just have public dates, be subtle about it."

Thea smiled at the compromise, "I'm sure she would like that. I mean, the press do have pictures of me and her on file already, so they know she's my friend too. We've been photographed shopping, eating, laughing, but it's been just us. So far, none of you and Lis, but maybe that's because she does her magic on line too?"

"Maybe, I don't ask her about these things."

"Whatever brother, oh my god!" she said excitedly, "I'm going to be an Aunt!"

* * *

><p>"I'm staying here," both of us are," Diggle told Felicity.<p>

Felicity had her arms crossed still seated at the back seat of the towncar.

"That's right. Both of us are staying here. Or better yet, both of us will be inside but occupying another booth," seeing Diggle's raised brow, "hey, I'm hungry too!" Roy pouted.

"Whatever, but you boys aren't joining our all girls lunch," Felicity told them firmly.

"Wouldn't dream of it, I wouldn't want to see Laurel's look when you finally tell her," Roy answered before he realized he gave himself away.

"Roy Harper!" Felicity's voice raised a decimal pitch.

"Thea texted me the news…congratulations by the way," Roy turned his torso so he could face her. "I hope the kid is more like you than…."

"Roy Harper, don't you dare finished that sentence."

Roy raised his arms in defeat, "Thea texted me, Oliver probably just told her the news, she just spits out one text after the other. Thanks by the way for that, I've been instructed to never leave your side and to guard you with my life," finishing off by rolling his eyes.

Felicity turned to Diggle apologetic, "Digg…."

Diggle waved a hand away, "Oliver already told me, that's why I'm here together with the little one…" Diggle said jokingly referring to Roy.

"Hey," Roy took offense.

"Seriously, Oliver was really stressing about you, so don't be surprised if you'll see more of me too," Diggle advised her.

Felicity huffed, "Diggle, there's no need for you to also be here. You need to be with Oliver, now that's he's CEO again, he may be more of a target."

"Oliver knows how to take care of himself. Besides, I totally agree with him."

Felicity rolled her eyes again, "I do not need a whole army protecting me. Do you realize, there are two assassins who probably can take out fifty people in a blink of an eye in there," referring to Sara and Nyssa, "for the love of God, I'm not that helpless."

"Nobody is saying you can't protect yourself Felicity. We are just all happy for you and Oliver. That baby inside of you, that's going to be my niece or nephew. I'm just doing my share as uncle."

Felicity prepared to get out by grabbing her bag but not before warning Roy, 'I hope you won't blurt out my good news Harper, I wanted to surprise the girls with this news."

Roy got out of the car to open her door and help her out, "I'll try my best," gesturing zipping his mouth.

* * *

><p>Laurel was running late, they had changed the venue from the coffee shop near her office to Big Belly Burger, which was further away. She had no doubt she would be the last one there knowing how prompt her sister and Nyssa was unless something major had happened. She also knew Felicity would be there on time despite the fact that she would be coming all the way from QC, Felicity didn't want to keep people waiting for her.<p>

She parked her car, then took a last look at her mirror, satisfied that her haggard eyes were hidden by make-up, stepped out of the car and walked the rest of the way toward the burger joint.

* * *

><p>"So they are just going to pretend that they don't know us and we don't know them, is that how this is going to work?" Sara asked as she eyed Diggle and Roy in another booth all the way near the entrance of the joint.<p>

Felicity rolled her eyes, "I told them to pretend they don't know us. That this was an all-girl's lunch. I told them to give us space."

"Felicity, there is something different about you," Nyssa searched her face.

Felicity balked. Leave it to trained assassins to notice miniscule differences. They were still waiting on Laurel and she did not want to preempt her announcement.

"So how are you and Ollie?" Sara smiled as she asked.

"We're fine. We're more than fine. Aside from him being all grrrr, he's become the perfect boyfriend," Felicity couldn't keep herself from smiling which Sara noticed.

Sara looked at Nyssa first then at Felicity, "Nyssa's right, there's something different about you. You have this glow about you…"

Felicity bit her lip and blushed which made Sara suspicious, "oh my god, tell me you're pregnant!"

"She's what!" Laurel almost shouted from where she was, twenty feet away from the other girls.

* * *

><p><strong>End of this chapter…sometimes our worst nightmares are manifested in our dreams. I will give Laurel a fitting ending during the next and last chapter of this story. <strong>

**I have a next two-shot already planned out after the conclusion of this one.**

**By the way, if you want to give me story prompts, this is the venue to do so since this will house my short-stories, one-shots and two-shots. Anything longer than 5 chapters, will be outside of this ASS universe.**

**So if you want longer stories, check out my other fics – SPOTLIGHT and EXPOSED all of which are all Olicity-centric.**


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